


Sweeter Than a Cherry Pie

by kitsunequeen



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Angst, Angst and Humor, Derek thinks Stiles is cheating on his sister, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Hook-Up, Humor, Misunderstandings, Multi, New Year's Eve, Stiles thinks Derek ditched him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2018-02-22 18:26:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2517479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitsunequeen/pseuds/kitsunequeen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Cora asks Stiles to be her pretend boyfriend for a New Year's family dinner, he figures he can do a friend a favor. When he hooks up with an incredible guy, Derek, the night before, only to wake up alone in the morning, he supposes he can handle that too. But when he shows up at Cora's house and Derek turns out to be her brother, well... that's a bit of a bigger problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt sent to me on tumblr!

"Please, Stiles?"

"No."

"I would do it for you!"

"Hmmm. Well in that case... no."

"Asshole," Cora grumbles.

Stiles continues laying strips of dough over the pie he's making, seemingly nonplussed.

"I mean if you had like a super hot brother or something, you know I'd be all over that, but..."

Cora almost snorts at the image of Stiles and Derek together, but she figures that it probably won't help her case much to bring him up. He still needs a date too, and no way is she having hers stolen.

"You know this isn't an actual date or anything. I just need to bring someone so my parents will shut up about it. _Ooh, Cora. Haven't you met any nice young men yet? I mean just look at Laura and her_ stupidly  _perfect boyfriend."_

The high, mocking tone she’d used for her mother turns bitter at the end.

Stiles offers a pitying smile, but no help.

"C'mon Cora, don't you think I have anything better to be doing on New Year's Eve than pretending to be your boyfriend?"

"Do you?"

"Well not right  _now_. But I could! I can go hang at The Jungle and get myself a nice, hot guy, and we could totally-"

"Enough!" Cora interjects. "Too much information. Look, I would totally owe you one, okay? I would owe you two. Three. Seven! I just need you to do this."

The puppy dog eyes she sends him are almost enough to make him cave. Almost. 

"Sorry, Cora."

"Fine," she says airily, tossing her hair over her shoulder and going back to her mixing bowl. "Maybe I'll just tell your dad that you and Scott were the ones who went skinny-dipping in the preserve last month.”

Stiles snaps his head around so fast it’s a wonder his neck doesn’t snap. 

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." 

They lock eyes till Stiles finally heaves a defeated sigh.

"I was gonna go with you anyway," he grumbles.

"I know you were," Cora says, grinning. Of course he was going to, he's _Stiles;_ he just likes to be difficult. "I was just speeding up the process."

"I was just speeding up the process," he mimics, turning to put his pie in the oven.

Cora flicks some flour at him, dusting his dark hair with white specks.

"Well I know why you don't have a boyfriend," Stiles mutters.

Cora just sticks her tongue out.

"Oh, and also," she adds. "My parents want one of my brothers to meet you first, judge if you're a 'nice guy' or whatever. So meet us for coffee at Starbucks tomorrow night?"

"You're more trouble than you're worth, you know that? A lot more."

"I'm taking that as a yes," she singsongs, heading back into the kitchen.

"Wait!" Stiles calls, catching her halfway through the double doors. "Do your parents know I know about the whole, ya know, _ARRRRGGGHHHH_ thing?" he asks, making a clawing motion with his free hand.

The night of the full moon a few months back had been rather... informative. Cora was having a terrible day, and when Stiles got on her nerves during their night shift at the bakery and she whipped around with a growl and glowing eyes, there'd been quite a bit of explaining to do.

"Never mentioned it. Long as you don't, we're all good," she says, letting the door swing shut behind her.

"Right," Stiles mutters when she's gone. "Dinner with werewolves. Sounds like an 80s movie."

"I HEARD THAT!"

* * *

Stiles pays the barista and grabs his hot chocolate, settling down at one of the tables. The place is mostly empty, except one other guy. One tall, stubbly, super hot guy. Stiles wishes Cora and her brother would just show up already, because sitting here being forced to look at him but not able to talk to him is totally unfair.

**Stiles Stilinski: [7:36 PM]**

_Cora there's a super hot guy here and this is all your fault_

**Stiles Stilinski: [7:38 PM]**

_I wanna get with that_

**Stiles Stilinski: [7:39 PM]**

_I bet he's lonely. He looks lonely_

**Stiles Stilinski: [7:42 PM]**

_On a scale of 1-10 how upset would ur brother be if I was flirting with tall dark and broody when u guys show_ _up?_

**Stiles Stilinski: [7:53 PM]**

_Hellloooooooooooo_

**Stiles Stilinski: [7:57 PM]**

_I think someone like stood him up, he keeps glancing at the door_

**Stiles Stilinski: [8:02 PM]**

_I even dressed up for this. I have a tie on and everything. You know the last time I wore a tie???_

**Stiles Stilinski: [8:06 PM]**

_He keeps looking at me. There's totally a spark_

**Stiles Stilinski: [8:06 PM]**

_Even tho I'm the only other person here to look at. But shhh_

**Stiles Stilinski: [8:07 PM]**

_Well actually you are shhhhing. How bout talking instead?_

After half an hour of texting Cora, sans reply, Stiles decides he's tired of waiting. Besides, the guy's almost done with his coffee, and Stiles might as well get _something_ out of this night.

_**Stiles Stilinski: [8:12 PM]** _

_You are officially a terrible person. I'm gonna go talk to Mr. Gorgeous. If you show now I'm not gonna be the_ _one doing the explaining_

He stands, sipping his cocoa till he reaches Lonely Guy's table, setting it down there and sliding onto the opposite stool.

* * *

Derek looks up as the guy from a few tables away sits down across from him, and has to wonder if he was being that obvious with his staring. Before he has a chance to worry about it, the guy sticks out a hand.

"Hey," he says. "I'm Stiles."

"Derek," he replies, shaking the offered hand.

"I noticed you were sitting alone, and- I mean, not that you sitting alone is a _problem_ or anything, but I figured, y'know, _you're_ sitting alone, _I'm_ sitting alone. Maybe we could sit alone together. Wow, that sounded corny... I mean-"

Derek stares at the guy, who, despite his professional attire, sounds like a kid in the way he quickly spirals into rambling.

"It's cool," Derek says, saving him from his floundering. "I was supposed to meet someone, but whatever. My parents are gonna be pissed but." He shrugs. "Not my problem."

That sounds a little weird to Stiles, but alright. If this twenty-something guy reports back to his parents about his dating endeavors, whatever.

Maybe Stiles can be his next one.

"I was actually waiting for a couple of people too, but they never showed." He frowns, and points at Derek's near-empty mug. "I don't wanna stop you from leaving or anything, if you're heading off..."

"It's fine," Derek says, glancing down at his watch. "Maybe I'll wait the guy out a while longer."

 _Guy_ , Stiles notes. _Success._

 "We can, uh, 'sit alone together', while we wait," Derek adds.

Stiles grins at the slight jab at his own awkwardness, and gets more comfortable in his seat.

"So what's up?"

* * *

Stiles wakes up feeling better than he has in ages. The night before was perfect in every possible sense. All bitterness at Cora completely faded once he started talking to Derek. Derek, i.e., the most perfect person on the planet. Once they got to talking, his whole brooding demeanor had dropped completely. He was more shy than anything, and seemed not to be much of a talker. That was fine with Stiles, seeing as he could talk enough for both of them and more. Which he had. Turns out Derek is studying to become a doctor, and he was impressed by Stiles' hope to join the Beacon Hills police force. And, surprisingly, he'd looked enraptured by Stiles' talk of comic books, TV shows, and the newest Marvel movie. So yes, Derek Whatever-His-Last-Name-Is, in a word, is perfect. Stiles has had no spontaneous hook ups since he was a teenager, but somehow he and Derek ended up driving back to Stiles' apartment and- And _wow_. It'd been even better than he expected.

In retrospect, Derek probably could've been a serial killer or something, but at least he would've given Stiles a nice last night. Stiles carefully rolls over so as not to wake him, except... _Fuck._ Derek isn't in bed. Stiles quickly blinks the sleep out of his eyes, glancing around the room. The covers on the other side of the bed are thrown back, but there's no light coming from under the bathroom door. He can already feel it's pointless, but he rolls out of bed and peeks his head out of his room anyway. The kitchen and living room are both empty, and the front door is locked but unchained, meaning someone left. Stiles feels his stomach fall.

Derek ditched him.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god I'm sorry this chapter is super late, school's been keeping me totally busy all week:( This chapter is really short, but necessary! I'm halfway through the next longer chapter, so hopefully that one actually is up soon.

Stiles drags himself around the apartment as he gets ready for work, trying not to feel too down about it. The wind ruffles the curtains, seeming to mirror his dreary mood.

 _Stop being such a sap. It happens to people all the time_ , he tells himself. _Guy was just some random jerk anyway, who cares?_

_I care_ _._

_I shouldn't_.

He pulls on a pair of jeans, and grabs some socks from his drawer.

_But I do._

* * *

 "Cora!" Stiles calls, the door of the bakery swinging shut behind him. "Cor?"

"Her day off," Isaac reminds him, peeking his head out the kitchen door.

"Right."

Just his luck, when he actually needs to talk to her.

"She left you a message though," Isaac adds, waggling the notepad by the phone.

Stiles walks over and picks it up:

  * Tell Stiles we're still on for tonight, 7 o'clock
  * Meet me at my house 
  * Bring pie and a good excuse, jerk



Stiles raises his eyebrows and Isaac shrugs.

"Just wrote what she told me to," he defends. "How come you're a jerk?"

"I'm not. She is, if anything. I'm supposed to go with her to some family dinner thing as her date-" at Isaac's crestfallen expression, he adds, "don't worry big guy, _pretend_  date, I'm not interested, your 57 year plan can still work out—and I was supposed to meet her and one of her brothers at Starbucks last night. I was there for like a solid three hours and they never showed, even after I texted her a million times. But fine, _I'm_ the jerk."

"You waited all by yourself at Starbucks for three whole hours?"

"Well, not _all_ by myself. There was the barista... and some guy."

"Mmmm," Isaac hums approvingly. "Did you talk to 'some guy'?"

"Yeah."

"Sounds like it went really well."

"Ha ha. I'll have you know he was totally into me. And he was hot, too. Like, his eyes were this insane green, brown, gold color, and he was ridiculously muscular but not all show-offy about it, and his jawline was like you wouldn't believe, okay?"

"And then you walked over to him and bowed down to his greatness, and-"

"I hate you. You know that? 'Cause I do."

Isaac just smiles.

"So then I walked over to him and sat down, no worshiping involved, thank you very much—well maybe in my mind, but—and we talked and hit it off, and then, get this, we went back to my place."

"Seriously?"

"Mmhm."

"And then...?"

"And then we had the best night ever... followed by the shittiest morning ever, when I woke up alone."

Isaac sucks in a breath.

"Sucks man, I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Stiles says flatly. "So technically, not only did she leave me alone for all that time, but she caused the stupidly perfect Derek to stomp on my pathetic little heart. And now I have to bring her a pie. I can already tell that this is gonna be a great day."

Isaac offers a sympathetic smile and says, "Who knows? Maybe it'll get better."

Famous last words.

* * *

Stiles heads to his jeep, still wresting with his tie. One standing close enough might hear mutterings such as _stupid tie... stupid Cora... stupid Derek_.

He gets in and makes the ten minute drive to Cora's place. He pulls up across the street and parks, but stays in his car for a while, staring at her house in dismay. Maybe he can fake an illness and go home. His day has gotten progressively worse since this morning, from burning three pies to slipping where Isaac mopped and hadn't bothered to leave a caution sign. The last thing he's in the mood to do is put on a cheery act for a bunch of people who can sense his emotions, if they so desire.

Still, he made a promise, so he drags himself out of the car and to the front door, knocking. The door swings open to reveal the last person Stiles ever expected to see again.

Derek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added in some minor corsaac, but I don't know yet if I'm actually gonna take it anywhere.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Derek's not as bad as he seems, I promise;)

Stiles half expects Rod Serling to emerge from the bushes and give a monologue on how Stiles just entered the Twilight Zone, because seriously, what the _hell_?

He glances around, checking the house number again. It’s correct. He’s sure his face is just as lost as Derek’s, but doesn’t have time to think about it, because someone suddenly slips past Derek and pulls him in for a hug.

“Stiles!”

He registers Cora’s voice, sounding overly cheerful. Then lower, in his ear, “I told them you thought it was the Starbucks on Main, not 67th, got it? Listening to heartbeats at the table is super rude, no one’ll catch us,” and then she’s pushing him away again, whisking the cherry pie from his hands and gesturing at Derek. “Stiles, this is my brother, Derek. Derek, this is Stiles.” 

Stiles, who should probably shake Derek’s hand at this point, is still busy letting everything sink in. Derek is Cora’s brother. Derek is also Derek, His Royal Hotness, from the coffee shop last night. So for whatever reason, Cora had only sent her brother to meet up with Stiles, and they were busy hitting it off while they waited for each other to show up.

He assumes Derek is drawing similar conclusions based on the way his frown of confusion turns into wonder, then anger. Stiles has a moment of irritation at that, because _Derek_ is the one who ditched _him_. And then, _oh, r_ _ight_. He thinks Stiles and Cora are dating. He thinks Stiles is not only cheating on Cora, but that he'd gotten Derek to cheat with his sister’s boyfriend. Holy-

“Stiles!” Cora says again, interrupting his train of thought. Derek seems to snap out of his own distanced line of thinking as well.

At a loss for other options, Stiles sticks out a hand.

“Nice to meet you, Derek.”

Derek makes a face as though Stiles had slapped him, but regains his composure at a nudge on the arm from Cora.

“Sorry,” she says in a stage whisper as Derek reaches for Stiles’ hand. “He’s a little socially awkward.”

Stiles guesses from Derek’s put out expression that it’s some sort of joke in the family, but personally, he doesn’t see it. Unless, of course, you count walking out without so much as a goodbye after an incredible night as ‘socially awkward’.

Derek latches onto Stiles’ fingers in an iron grip, and _wow_ , someone’s bitter. It takes every ounce of his willpower not to cringe.

“I thought you said your boyfriend’s name was Stilinski,” Derek says, voice tight.

“His last name. His first name- well, technically, none of us can pronounce his first name, but Stiles is as good as it gets.”

“Right,” Derek says, finally dropping Stiles’ hand.

There are white marks in the shape of fingers where his circulation had been momentarily cut off. Stiles can’t even tell if it’s on purpose. Derek just looks kinda… stressed?

Not that it really matters; Stiles would probably want to rip his hand off too. He might do it anyway, just to get out of this dinner.

“Well c’mon,” Cora says. “I’ll go put this in the kitchen, and Derek, you can show Stiles to the dining room.”

She’s gone before either has the chance to protest.

Derek stares at him for a moment, jaw working like he’s physically holding back words, and finally turns on his heel and stiffly leads the way into the dining room.

* * *

“We’ve heard so much about you, Stiles,” Cora’s uncle says amicably. “Going into law school? Impressive.”

Stiles shoots Cora a bewildered look, which doesn’t go unnoticed by her mother.

“Leave the boy alone, Peter. He’s only joking, Stiles. Cora tells us you plan on working your way through college at the bakery. Do you have a plan after that? Heaven knows Cora doesn’t.”

“ _Mom_.”

Stiles must admit Cora’s playing the role of excited new girlfriend exceedingly well. He’d be impressed if he wasn’t busy trying to decide whether or not werewolves have laser vision. With the way Derek’s glaring at him, it’s a wonder there aren’t two holes bored into his forehead.

“I, uh... I’m actually planning on joining the BHPD.”

“Oh, that’s awesome,” Laura says. “My friend Jordan works for them.”

“Oh yeah, my-” Stiles starts, but Derek cuts him off.

“Isn’t that a really hard job to get?”

“Well yeah, but-“

“And you think you can beat out all the other people going for it?”

“Well, I’m gonna try to-”

“But really, is it all that likely that _you’ll_ be the one to get the job?”

“Well I mean, my dad’s actually the sheriff-”

“So it’s not like you’re getting in based on merit or anything, your dad’s just gonna hand you the job?”

“ _Derek_ ,” Cora hisses. 

“What?" he asks, shrugging innocently. "I’m just saying that’s a hard job to get, and it’s not exactly fair if he only gets it based on his father’s position.”

Before the two of them can start a war, Stiles cuts in smoothly, “I actually have a 4.0 GPA, and the police academy is more than happy to consider anyone nearly that high, so don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, Derek,” Cora says smugly, “don’t worry about it.”

* * *

After that, Stiles decides he’s going to be the bigger person. Derek, with the current impression he has of Stiles, has every right to be angry. Though, of course, Derek is the one who’s mistaken, _and_ he walked out on Stiles this morning. But still, he’ll live with it.

Well, at least that was the plan.

“So, Stiles, how long have you and Cora been dating?” Laura asks.

Ah, good. A normal sibling.

“Just over a month.”

Cora hadn’t given him a time frame, but it seems as good an answer any.

“She never mentioned you,” Laura says, chewing thoughtfully on her mashed potatoes.

She looks ready to ask another question, when Derek dives in.

“Exclusively?”

“Why’re you being so nosy?” Cora demands.

“Oh calm down, Cora. He’s just making conversation,” Peter says, and Stiles doesn’t know what it is with this guy, but he’s not a fan.

“Fine,” Cora mutters. “ _Exclusively_.”

Stiles wants to kick himself; it could’ve been such an easy out. _‘How long have you been dating?’ ‘Oh, around a week.’ ‘Not exclusive yet, then?’ ‘Not yet.’_ It probably wouldn’t have been too convincing, if she’s taking him to meet her family, but still. It would’ve been worth the shot.

“So neither of you are dating anyone else then?”

“That’s what exclusive _means_ , Derek.”

“Just wondering. Some people _say_ they’re exclusive, and suddenly you see them walking all over town with other guys.”

Stiles gets the insinuation, but their mother clearly doesn’t. “Derek,” she chides. “Cora would never. My apologies Stiles, I don’t know what’s going on with him tonight.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it Mrs. Hale. I’m sure he’s just tired. Late night last night? Or maybe you had to get up and rush out of the house _early_ this morning?”

Derek looks more confused now than anything else, and Stiles isn’t really sure how to take that. It kinda pisses him off though, because really? He’s gonna act like he doesn’t know what Stiles is talking about?

He decides to deal with the problem his normal way: just keep talking.

“And I totally get what he’s saying. Some people just like to sleep around. And they have, like, no consideration for exclusivity, or anything else for that matter. They just sleep with someone and are done with them, content to ditch them and never speak again.” Peter stares at him with interest, Talia with concern, and Derek with an even deeper frown. For good measure, he throws in, “But obviously Cora would never do that, this seems like a very well-mannered family. And of course _I_ never would, either.”

He doesn’t even bother hiding the contemptuous look he throws at Derek.

* * *

**[Cora Hale 11:28 PM]**

_Hey u up?_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:28 PM]**

_Thirty minutes to midnight on New Year’s Eve, duh_

**[Cora Hale 11:29 PM]**

_Sassy. Did Stiles seem okay at work today?_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:29 PM]**

_I guess_

**[Cora Hale 11:29 PM]**

_U guess?_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:30 PM]**

_Idk, why_

**[Cora Hale 11:30 PM]**

_He’s acting weird_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:31 PM]**

_He’s Stiles, he always acts weird. This is why you can’t take him anywhere lol_

**[Cora Hale 11:32 PM]**

_No this is different. One of my brothers is at his throat, and he doesn’t look so happy himself. And who am I supposed to take? I don’t have an endless supply of guys willing to fake date me for my parents_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:35 PM]**

_You could get a real date_

Cora blinks down at her phone, unsure of what, if anything, he’s implying.

**[Cora Hale 11:36 PM]**

_Like who?_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:36 PM]**

_Me. You know, if you wanted..._

**[Cora Hale 11:37 PM]**

_Is that you asking me out?_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:38 PM]**

_Is that you saying yes?_

**[Cora Hale 11:38 PM]**

_If you’re asking, I’m saying yes_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:40 PM]**

_I guess that means you’re saying yes then ;) Pick you up after your shift Friday?_

**[Cora Hale 11:40 PM]**

_Sounds great_

Well, that was easy, she thinks. Though she’d love to sit here flirting all night, a loud “That’s not what I _said_!” from the living room gets her to send the next text.

**[Cora Hale 11:42 PM]**

_I hate to change the subject, but I need to know what’s up with Stiles before he and my brother kill each other_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow so I actually finished this today:) I figured I'd post this tonight, and the final chapter tomorrow if you guys want. Also I got a request to continue the minor corsaac, so there ya go;)


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: for some reason ao3 posted this when I tried to save it as a draft, so it said 4/?, but this is the last chapter. Sorry, I guess it was because I did it from my phone

“That’s not what I _said_!” Stiles argues, exasperated.

Derek lifts his hands in a placating way, as though he hadn’t meant anything by it.

“I’m just saying, if you have no New Year’s resolutions, isn’t that basically the same thing as having no goals for the year? I guess there’s nothing wrong with just dragging yourself through life, no plans in mind, but I’m just saying…”

Stiles desperately needs Cora to come back. She left the room a few minutes ago, leaving Stiles and Derek sitting on opposite couches, with Peter in an arm chair to the side, while the rest of the Hales cleared the table.

And anyway, since when had Derek become so wordy? He was so shy and quiet last night, but here he is, arguing up a storm and dissecting every little thing Stiles says. He knows it’s probably part of some weird plan to get Cora to break up with him, which might be a good idea, were they actually dating.

“Well what’re _you_ planning?” Stiles asks. “Because my friend Scott has a really good one. He’s going to try being less ephemeral this year. You know, short-lived, transient _, fleeting_ -"

* * *

**[Cora Hale 11:47 PM]**

_Wait, so he /did/ go to Starbucks last night?_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:47 PM]**

_Yeah, and he was all annoyed that you didn’t. Apparently he kept texting you and you never answered_

**[Cora Hale 11:47 PM]**

_What? No, he never answered my texts_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:48 PM]**

_Really? You know, he still has that phone with the horrible reception, maybe he just never got it. Lemme try texting him_

**[Cora Hale 11:48 PM]**

_Alright_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:53 PM]**

_No answer, his service must be screwy again. He waited there three hours for your text lmao. How come you never showed up tho?_

**[Cora Hale 11:53 PM]**

_That’s what I was texting him about. I was trying to tell him I couldn’t make it, but my brother was gonna meet him still. But idk what happened, Derek said Stiles never showed last night_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:54 PM]**

_Wait. Your brother’s name is Derek?_

**[Cora Hale 11:54 PM]**

_Yeah why?_

**[Isaac Lahey 11:55 PM]**

_Holy shit_

* * *

“You know what?” Stiles grits out, shoving himself off the couch, where he’s now planted between Laura and Mr. Hale. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

“I’ll show you where,” Derek all but growls, shoving past him and leading the way into the hall.

He stops at a bedroom and yanks the door open, jabbing his finger inside. Stiles enters and Derek follows, slamming the door behind him and flicking on the light.

Stiles rounds on his heel to face him, throwing his arms across his chest.

“What the _hell_ is your problem?”

“My problem? My _problem_ is that you cheated on my little sister, and worse, you made _me_ cheat with her boyfriend. How am I supposed to explain that to her?”

“You don’t have to explain _anything_ to her, I-”

“Actually, I do. Because unlike some people, I don’t go around lying all the time. I don’t just cheat on people and think nothing of it, okay?”

His voice is rising and it’s starting to freak Stiles out a little.

“I’m not cheating on her-” he tries, but Derek’s apparently having none of it.

“Oh my God, you literally slept with me last night!" he seethes. "How can you even _try_ lying about that?” 

And now that he's being blamed for _anything_ about last night after what Derek did? Stiles has had _enough._

There are several things you should never do while an angry werewolf is shouting at you. 1) step into his personal space, 2) grab his hand in what probably looks like a very confrontational manner, and 3) put his hand over your heart, where it could grow claws at any second and suddenly be _holding_ your heart.

Stiles does all three of these things.

Derek looks too bewildered to say anything for a moment, and Stiles takes that as his cue to do some very quick explaining.

“If you would stop talking over me every single time I open my mouth, maybe you wouldn’t be having this problem. You don’t have to explain anything to her because I’m not lying, okay? Cora explained all about your magical wolf junk—" 4) don’t insult the werewolf’s powers— “so I know you can hear or feel or _whatever_ my heartbeat right now. And I’m telling you the truth. I’m not cheating on Cora, she’s one of my best friends. _Friends_ , get it? As in coworkers. Buds. Pals. _Not_ a couple. Friends, as in I am single, as in not cheating on you _or_ your sister. She needed a date for this stupid party, so she begged me to go with her so your parents would leave her alone. And I went because I’m a good friend. _Friend_.”

He throws the word in again for good measure, and then stares at Derek, breathing hard. Derek doesn’t seem to be breathing at all.

The whole hand-on-heart thing seems to have worked, because now Derek’s staring at him, wide-eyed.

Finally, in a small voice, he says, “You’re really not cheating on her?”

“ _No_. I’m not.”

“Oh, my God,” he groans. “Oh my God, I’ve been harassing you all night.”

“I noticed,” Stiles says shortly, because he’s not quite done being annoyed yet.

“ _Shit_. I’m not a huge jerk or anything, I swear. It’s just Cora’s last boyfriend cheated on her after they dated for six months, and she was completely crushed when she found out, and she hasn’t dated anyone since. That’s why my parents are all over her. I just- I didn’t want her to have to go through that again when she’s finally getting back out there.”

 _That’s actually… really cute,_ Stiles thinks to himself. Derek was only trying to protect his little sister all night.

Still, it doesn’t erase the fact that Derek abandoned him this morning. 

“Do you think we could forget this happened?” Derek asks.

“This? Yeah. Sure. Never happened. Well, I think I’m gonna get going now.”

“Are we…” Derek seems to be having trouble getting the words out. “Are we, you know, done?”

“I think you made that decision when you left this morning, no?”

“What?” 

“What do you mean _what_? You ran out on me this morning, and I’m pretty sure that indicates no longer being together.”

“But...” Derek says, frown deepening. Stiles resents how cute his forehead looks when it’s all crinkled in concentration. “But I left you a note.”

“A note?”

“I said I had to go to class, and I left you my number. It was on the dresser."

Stiles stares at him, because that makes no sense. He'd gotten clothes from his dresser that morning, and there’d been no note. He remembers it specifically, rolling out of the bed, pathetically noting the dreary curtains.

The _curtains_.

Fuck, the curtains above his dresser that were blowing in the wind. The wind must’ve blown the note onto the floor or under the bed or _somewhere_ , somewhere Stiles hadn’t seen it.

“Fuckin' Murphy’s law,” Stiles mutters to himself.

“What?”

“You know. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”

Derek gives a small laugh, and Stiles is suddenly very aware of the hand he still has pressed to his chest.

“So we’re okay?” Derek asks.

“We’re great. Hey, what time is it?”

Derek raises his eyebrows a little but checks the watch on his free hand.

“Midnight, actually. On the dot.”

“Great,” Stiles says.

He twists his own hand into the fabric of Derek’s shirt so they’re both holding each other, and pulls him in. They kiss, and it’s not nearly as heated as last night, but it’s perfect all the same.

“Happy New Year,” he murmurs, pleased that Derek leaves their foreheads pressed together.

He has a feeling it will be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my first chaptered fic, so I really appreciate all the positive comments and kudos. I think maybe I'll do some chaptered things in the (hopefully near) future! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading:) {Got a request for a sequel, lemme know if you guys would be into that}

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments and kudos are always appreciated<3 You can visit me on tumblr at stilesbansheequeen


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